Transform into a magical girl after getting off work

The three seniors took turns cooking, washing dishes, sweeping the floors, and other such household chores that required more labor, while the six backups and a fairy were responsible for laundry, wiping tables, taking out the trash, and a series of other miscellaneous tasks.

Today, Hong Siyu was in charge of cooking, with Bai Jingxuan acting as her sous chef, which is why it was Bai Jingxuan's turn to notify her companions that it was time to eat.

However, even if the task was just repeating the same action a few times, behaviors still differed when facing different people. When calling others to eat, Bai Jingxuan would just give a casual notification, but when calling Emerald Sparrow and Lin Xiaolu, she would wait quietly by the door for the two of them to come out, then walk alongside Emerald Sparrow to go upstairs.

Of course, it was the side that Lin Xiaolu wasn't on.

The three of them walked up the stairs side by side, moving in step as though they were participating in a three-legged race. Despite the stairway being wide enough for three people to pass through at once, Emerald Sparrow, squeezed in the middle, felt uncomfortable all over.

And if you were to ask whether her discomfort was more physical or psychological, it was probably the latter that was more troubling.

In Emerald Sparrow's perception, having one person on each side, even though they weren't talking to each other, created an eerily confrontational atmosphere in their silence that was difficult to bear.

This situation had formed only in the past few days.

Initially, perhaps because Lin Xiaolu had received Emerald Sparrow's permission, she began to cling to Emerald Sparrow more and more and displayed increasingly whimsical behavior. As a result, Bai Jingxuan, who had always liked to follow Emerald Sparrow, began to lose her place.

Of course, Bai Jingxuan was a considerate child. She didn't throw a tantrum when Lin Xiaolu took her place, and even if she felt a slight moodiness, she could adjust herself.

After all, Lin Xiaolu couldn't possibly cling to Emerald Sparrow all day every day. She had her own things to do, and during those times, Bai Jingxuan naturally had the opportunity to continue spending time with Emerald Sparrow.

However, soon, as special training began, this balance was disrupted. Bai Jingxuan had to learn Turbidity with Asou Haruka and spent most of her time with the Bai'an City team, while Lin Xiaolu, who needed to learn thread-based combat, was almost always being tutored by Emerald Sparrow. Naturally, Lin Xiaolu almost got to be with Emerald Sparrow every day, but Bai Jingxuan hardly had the chance anymore.
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This kind of situation, if it lasted a day or two, wouldn't be a big deal, but as three days, four days passed, things started to feel a bit off.

At first, it was just Bai Jingxuan actively seeking out Emerald Sparrow during breaks and housework times, and even if Emerald Sparrow was in charge of chores, Bai Jingxuan would come forward to help, regardless of whether it was her turn to work that day or not.

This wasn't a rare occurrence, as Bai Jingxuan would often volunteer to help Emerald Sparrow with various chores. Back then, even if Lin Xiaolu noticed, she would not react.

However, after the new year, the nature of the situation quietly shifted, and Lin Xiaolu began to take initiative in helping Emerald Sparrow with her tasks.

Back and forth, many times it turned into the two of them competing for work.

And from competing over tasks, it turned into competition for position, for attention, and eventually, it evolved into a contest for favoritism, all within just a few days.

Of course, this isn't to say that all the problems arose within just a few days. Rather, the minor conflicts between Bai Jingxuan and Lin Xiaolu had long-standing roots.

It wasn't anything as dire as an enmity between the two; in fact, if you factor out the issue with Emerald Sparrow, Lin Xiaolu and Bai Jingxuan got along quite well.

In Lin Xiaolu's view, Bai Jingxuan was a well-behaved and sensible junior, often a cute little sister. Bai Jingxuan's unyielding spirit despite her handicap also earned Lin Xiaolu's respect, so she didn't mind giving way in many matters.

For Bai Jingxuan, Lin Xiaolu was a senior and sister who might appear a bit temperamental on the surface but was actually very gentle. Plus, after a series of comical events in the past, Bai Jingxuan had come to treat Lin Xiaolu as a true sister, naturally not wanting any unnecessary conflict with her.

Frankly, both of them wanted to get along well. But once Emerald Sparrow was factored in, many things just weren't that simple anymore.

Back when Bai Jingxuan had first joined the team, Lin Xiaolu harbored lingering thoughts about Bai Jingxuan "stealing Emerald Sparrow's attention."

However, at that point, Emerald Sparrow was still intentionally controlling the distance with the team members, not wanting to become too intimate with this group of children. So Lin Xiaolu felt that she shouldn't be competing with a junior high school student over such things.

Moreover, she was confused about her future at the time and uncertain about what she really wanted. She felt that being jealous over less attention was childish and didn't let the emotion spread.

The second fermentation of these feelings actually came about a month after the Full Moon Festival.

For some reason unknown to Lin Xiaolu, Emerald Sparrow and Bai Jingxuan became much closer. If it was originally understandable for Emerald Sparrow to spend more time with Bai Jingxuan, as she was the last Magical Girl to join and had many lessons to catch up on, then after that period, many of their private moments seemed purely out of "favoritism."